HELP - AIR SEALING a Continuous Stone Interior/ Exterior Wall

I just recently audited a home that had a blower door number of 11,684 CFM50 and/or 11.81 ACH50. And of course one of the main air infiltration culprits was a stone face wall that was continuous on the outside and inside of the building envelope. The basics as I see it is this: the 1/4" stone joints allow air to freely flow into the house.

Does anyone know of any good methods to seal a high-end stone wall air leakage like this?

Replies to This Discussion

Air sealing a wall like this must be done with a vapor diffusive material or you will get spalled stone faces from sealing materials holding water. I recommend mixing hydrated lime with local clay soils, this is the way they have been sealed for millenia. Vapor open and beautiful. Do not use cement based products to fill the gaps as these are not vapor diffusive.

Lots of interesting ideas. Typically in the North East we would have just skinned stone on a masonry wall. You could mortar the joints. Obviously you could seal it an close it. I would seal it with open cell spray foam, Keep the permeability between 3 and 10 perm. Then air space and interior surface, like green board on steel or timber studs.

I hate to cover it. The answer for the 100 year old stone foundation in a cheap farm house would be drylock on well prepared surface.

I liked the suggestion to look elsewhere. You know where the air is coming in, so try to stop the air getting out. Also, put some nice french doors inside these doors to separate this space from the rest of the house. Obviously large open vertical columns of air, create their own motivating pressure. But if you can seal the top, it will slow the infiltration in the bottom.